Heretofore, many mounting structures for the vehicular lighting unit have been developed for illuminating e.g. the number plate.
One of the mounting structures for the vehicular lighting unit of this kind is, for example, disclosed in Japanese unexamined Utility Model Application No. SHO-57-76148, which is incorporated into the present specification by reference.
In such a structure, a mounting port with a pair of notches is provided on a body panel (rear end panel) of the vehicle, and for example, a number plate light unit is snugly inserted to the mounting port and supported by the body panel such that a pair of engaging sections of the number plate light unit go through the notches e.g. from the front side of the body panel and rotated on the back side of the panel.
The mounting structure of one-touch type as mentioned above is preferable in a case, for instance, where the lighting unit is fixedly attached to the inside of the body panel by the use of machine screws, when considered from the work efficiency point of view, but has a disadvantage that it is feared that it may be easily dismantled from the outside.
Namely, although the number light is arranged not to be directly seen by the covering with a finisher that is installed on the body panel, there is still a possibility that it may be dismantled by turning the main body or lens of the number light unit which can be pinched and rotated for disassembling with fingers or a tool that is inserted from the bottom gap behind the finisher.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a mounting structure for vehicular lighting unit that in spite of allowing it to be mounted in one touch by turning, permits also to restrict the turning of the lighting unit after the completion of its mounting.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mounting structure for vehicular lighting unit which makes it difficult to dismantle the light unit without adversely affecting the workability at the time of installation of the lighting unit.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a mounting structure for vehicular lighting unit which makes it impossible to disassemble the lighting unit from the body panel before removing the finisher from the body panel.